Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. From just rubbishing the 'internet' as just a 'fad' he then proceeded to give the world Internet Explorer and various other internet utilities. So Mr Gates does tend to realise things - albeit a little later than others - but once he gets on the bandwagon he intends to win.

Now he reckons he has the game to trump the current poker boom.

Contract Bridge.

Yep. The game thats synonymous with old folks, country clubs and the odd 'singles' club. Its also played by millions of people you've never met. And those millions include Bill Gates and fellow rich boy, Warren Buffet.

Gates has now put together a program that aims to bring bridge to schoolkids - investing a cool $1 million to fund it. But so far there are no takers.

The billionaires' bridge program has yet to get a bid, says Osberg, a two-time world-champion bridge player and bank executive who has played bridge with Buffett for 15 years. The first school district she approached, San Francisco, said no deal.

Buffett was surprised. "You'd think that even if a proposal came in from Bill Gates that they didn't want to do, they'd follow through because they'd think, 'We'll sell him something else,' " he says.

Marley Kaplan, president of chess-in-the-Schools, says she has pitched the idea of bridge to New York schools but found little enthusiasm among principals. "They said, 'We're not playing cards in class.' "

But at lunchtime, those budding Kasparovs are dealing Texas Hold 'Em anyway, she says. "In the cafeteria, the cards come right out."

Kids who are crazy about poker should love bridge, says Buffett, who spends nearly every evening playing online --- 4,800 hands last year, he figures. "There's intellectual development involved and working as partners with people," he says. "If a lot of kids are exposed to bridge, a number of them are going to benefit in a very significant way."

Oh well, maybe for once Gates is gambling up the wrong tree

Article: Billionaires bank on bridge to trump poker